I’m helping a Kiwi (2 actually) get started in the online working world. One of their sites is a forum. This forum is just starting out and is facing the standard problem of a forum, chicken and egg.

People won’t join/post unless there is a reason for them to do so. The reason can be as simple as it appears to be a good community with interesting things going on, but how do you do that with a new forum?

One method is forum wanking, talk to yourself! I don’t personally use this method but I know many people that have to great success.

Basically the idea is that over a period of time you create a number of accounts on the forum, and these members post threads and reply to others threads. It makes your forum seem alive so that people are more tempted to join.

It can become rather boring, and a little confusing I have been told, but it is only a short term thing to get some activity in your forum.

I’m sure some of you will think that this is a bit underhanded, and it is a bit, but it does work.

Related to this is buying posts on your forum from one of the forum posting services and also you can do post exchanges with another forum - you post 10 messages on their forum, they post 10 on yours.